Within the first five minutes it wasn't the nines I was rolling but my eyes . Oh dear I thought yet another British film where some white middle class posh boys straight out of film school produce a movie that tells what life is like in da ghetto where life is cheap short and brutal and the inhabitants speak in a unique language which makes no sense unless you're Ali G . Despite this I did give it a chance since it was directed by Julien Gilbey who did the very under rated RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER . I'm glad I did because this film is very engaging though perhaps not in a good way
Okay guv I confess . It's a fairly terrible movie . After the first five minutes we're treated to a drive by killing followed by a rape followed by a revenge killing . This all happens by the ten minute mark and the film has to pad out the next hour and a half by having gangland executions more retaliations and every sentence filled with the F and C words . At least I could understand the F and C words though , probably because I'm a white working class Celt . I didn't have a clue what the black characters were talking about and even if you're Brixton born and bred I guess you'd have no understanding of what this street lingo is . It goes way beyond parody and no matter who says what none of the dialogue sounds natural in anyway . We have a couple of corrupt cops and you'd be forgiven for thinking you're watching a comedy sketch show where a couple of comedians lampoon American cop shows . Their superior is referred to as " Captain " but as far as I know the Metropolitan police force don't have such a rank though they do in America . In more than a few places you think the action is taking place in an alternative universe where the Battle of Stalingrad meets South Central LA where the cops and the drug dealers engage in bitter house to house fighting
Yet despite all this or maybe because of all this ROLLIN remains very watchable . As I said it's a terrible film and is so over the top you worry the film might end up in orbit around Jupiter , but it's this deranged quality that keeps you watching similar as to watching a car crash . Some of the cast do deserve some praise such as Terry Stone for keeping a straight face as they spout their dubious dialogue , though some of them such as Roffem Morgan as Rage are guilty of some painfully obvious wooden acting . Watch the scene where Rage has sex in a toilet and I've got to admit I've shown more passion doing a crossword puzzle . Gilbey also has a strange framing technique where everything is shot in medium close up but I guess that might be down to a lack of budget . He does deserve some credit in crafting a film that is thoroughly unpleasant , populated by universally unlikable characters that has not an ounce of realism and yet it's a film I enjoyed in a sleazy sort of way . Not something I'd admit to in a hurry
